February 13, 2010
We have a new sheep at our place. We call her Sweetie because she really is sweet. But she has a little problem.
Petting newly shorn Sweetie
She arrived about three months ago when Hamish, the stock agent, brought about 20 new sheep to graze in our paddocks. “One’s a pet sheep,” he said. “Belongs to my sister. That one’s never going to the butcher.”
At first the new sheep were down in the paddock beyond the driveway and the row of gum trees. I didn’t see them much. But after a while Hamish moved them into the paddock where the chicken run is. That’s when I got to know them.
Every morning I would cross the paddock carrying a bucket with some chicken feed. The sheep stared. One had a blue plastic ring in its ear. Another had a large, square head. Being naturally sheepish, they ran away if I came too close.
But one sheep never ran. No matter how close I came as I walked by, she would stand her ground and stick her nose out, sniffing the air. After a couple mornings, she started walking over to greet me.
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New Zealand, Paddocks, Sheep & cattle | Tagged: animals, chicken coop, chicken feed, olive grove, sheep | 
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Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
January 9, 2010
Podcast available.
Because we lease our paddocks to a stock agent, we’ve seen a variety of cattle and sheep come and go on our property.
Dry paddocks and olive grove - March 2007
Being city boys, one animal has always seemed the same as another to us. One cow, however, has been a standout. She not only made an indelible impression on us, but she left Rick with an ongoing remembrance in the form of a dull ache in his side when it rains.
We named her Evil Cow.
Local farmers say cattle are smart. One farmer once told me he’d actually seen a cow push another cow into an electric fence just to see if it was on. Before I’d met Evil Cow, I didn’t believe that such calculated bovine treachery was possible.
Let’s just say that I believe it now.
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17 Comments | New Zealand, Paddocks, Podcasts, Sheep & cattle | Tagged: cattle, olive grove, pruning, stock agent | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
September 12, 2009
It all started with a ram. At the end of last summer, in late February, Hamish said, “I’m going to bring over a ram.”
Stockyard full of sheep
Hamish is the stock agent who grazes his sheep and cattle in our paddocks. We were standing at the fence, looking out at his 30 or so ewes that were grazing in our olive grove at the time. Hamish has a friendly smile, but he says very little. “You’ll see lambs out there in the spring,” he added. Then he nodded and walked away.
We’d never had lambs in our own paddocks before, and we couldn’t wait.
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10 Comments | New Zealand, Sheep & cattle | Tagged: lambing, manure, olive harvest | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
August 29, 2009
Since moving to the country I’ve learned that sometimes smart cattle and sheep perform the farm equivalent of a prison break – with one key difference. Instead of breaking out, they break in.
After work one evening last week, I was on my way to the chook house to collect the day’s eggs when I came across two cows in the backyard. They were just beyond the laundry line, clearly on the wrong side of the fence.
Of course I did what any level-headed city boy would do upon coming face to face with two large, beastly escaped convict cows by the laundry line. I turned around and ran the other way.
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13 Comments | New Zealand, Paddocks, Sheep & cattle | Tagged: cattle, chook house, escaped animals, hayshed | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
July 31, 2009
Rick and I each picked up a long stick on the way down to the bottom paddock.
The bottom paddock: scene of the crime
We were about to chase some sheep off our property, and if one thing was certain it was that we had absolutely no idea what we were doing.
This was during our first summer here, when we were even less experienced at country life than we are now — if that’s at all possible.
But how hard can chasing sheep be? They’re just sheep. They’re fat and slow and stupid. Right?
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Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
May 23, 2009
A group of six of our city friends helped us move out to the country. That was back in October 2006. It was a beautiful day, and it felt like a party.
House and the footbridge to the top paddock
Nobody wanted to drive a rented truck over the treacherous Rimutaka Hill Road, so Rick and I hired movers to move our big things like the bed, sofa, washer and dryer. The rest of our stuff we piled into everyone’s cars and drove over the Hill together, convoy style.
Our city friends were all people we’d met since arriving in New Zealand two years before. They were an odd mix perhaps, but went together well – Kiwis and Brits, straight and gay, Quakers and not religious at all. To them we were the gay Americans from Tokyo, city boys through and through. What were we doing, they wondered, moving out to 20 acres in the country?
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10 Comments | Country dinner parties, Neighbors, New Zealand, Paddocks, Sheep & cattle | Tagged: city friends, gratitude, kind neighbors, moon, rimutaka hill road, tractor | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
